Recently we had some real success and captured some "Ali Babbas" or bad guys. And what I mean by that is people that had intentions on killing Americans. I must first say that the majority of the credit, if not completly, belongs to the Army of Iraq and shows that real progress is being made here. While the focus of the Media is on the natural disasters in America we continue our mission of securing the future and stability in this vital part of the world.

We had been given, or more importantly the Iraqi Army had been given, information about possible insurgent activity in one part of our area of responsibility. As a result the Iraqi Army went to investigate and we went along to observe their conduct.

As we neared the objective two men got up and began to run away, the area was mainly farm land and canal roads, one of the men tried to hide a machine gun in the bushes and kept running. The good thing about this is that not so long ago the "Runners" would have probably been killed on the spot, Sadaams Army killed without restraint. The Army of a deomocratic Iraq is learning due process and discipline. The IA did as they were trained and sealed off the entire area and were soon searching the area. The local farmer on whose property this was happening claimed to know nothing, this would change dramaticly.

The two men were soon found and surrendered one of these guys was supposed to be working for "our side" and kept saying things like "Bush good, America my friends I no hurt my friends". Now up to this point they had done nothing wrong, all Iraqis over the age of eighteen are allowed to own one machine gun and both were over eighteen. None of the men could produce identification and had some real shakey stories. They were about to be released when things took a turn for the worst as far as they were concerned. (And the reason for them running was they were just scared of coalition troops).

During the questioning the search of the area was on going and as the Iraqi Army was sweeping thru some heavy vegitation several more innocent men were found hiding and quickly surrendered. Only these guys had explosives and other very serious terrorist items with them. Soon the count of men out on leisurly walks with weapons was up to five and the property owner made six.

Very soon the stories started getting very confused and people started telling the truth. The truth was that most of them were not locals and were sent to recruit others for terrorist acts on the local populace and were sent from far away to do this. I really can't get into specifics but can say that these were some bad people and they will be dealt with by the people of Iraq as they see fit.

Two intresting things for me were, as we had them at the processing center I was standing very near them and saw one of the Iraqi soldiers just yelling at one of the insurgents and asked our itreperter what was being said, he explained to me that the soldier was asking him how a muslim could be involved with those that hurt women and children and why couldn't he just live a life without harming others. I gathered that he was trying to shame the insurgent for his acts against the people of Iraq, it was good to see.

The second thing that happend was at one point I and two other Americans were standing guard over our detainees and taliking to each other when one of the insurgents, who was blindfolded for security, figured out he was in the company of only Americans. So he tried to talk to me and started saying that old familiar "Mister,mister" I immediatly stated in as firm and authoritive a voice as possible " Asma Ani, Le te chee !!" which means "Listen to me, no talking".
He didn't even peep another thing, no sympathy today for these guys they would have just as soon seen us dead as say "Mister, mister". For these guys it's "Game over".

I want to also say that next month I get some R&R (rest and relaxtion) and am really looking foward to Califorinia. For me and my fellow soldiers it's far from "Game Over" but we are way past the halftime show.

We recently recieved a briefing on the upcoming Muslim holiday of "Ramadan". We are told that this is a most sacred time for muslims and takes about thirty days from start to finish. I believe it starts with the first crescent moon of October, this explains the red crescent for Arabs as opposed to the "Red Cross". My understanding is that the entire "Koran" will be covered over this period and theres is fastinf from dawn to dusk. The final four days involve gift giving and feasting, kind of like Christmas I suppose. We have been told not to eat or drink in front of Muslims as it can be offensive.

We are also expecting a rise in insurgent activity due to the upcoming elections, Sadaams trial and the town nearby that he orderd the murder of over one hundred and fifty people. I hope to be home on vacation for most of this time and when I get back should be a "Two digit Midgit". We still have some very serious activity in our area and everyone is staying as vigilent as possible, we all are looking foward to coming home.

It seemed as though it was cooling off and now it's back to being very hot again. I haven't been able to interact with as many children as before and that was really one of the most rewarding things about this mission. I continue to get frustrated by the constant begging og the Iraqi soldiers for daily "gifts". What's sad is that the concept of sharing is just so foreign to them, every man for themselves is not what we are teaching them. Some of the soldiers almost seem to get angry if I don't reach into my pocket or vehicle and give them a handout. I know we may seem to have constant access to everything they may want but we really don't.

For the most part I will be content with what we have done here and will look foward to the day the entire region has some stability. The Iraqi Army will soon be in a position to handle all there own matters and that day can't come soon enough. Until that day I wil try to "Tell it like it is".

I recently took another tour of the countryside of central Iraq and seen some rather interesting things that, for me anyway, showed that some very real progress is being made here and we are winning. I think the single most important thing was that the local people tried and succeded to save Americans from coming into harms way.

We had gone to an area I was not real familiar with and had the chance to go into a rather large village. There we took up our defensive posture and as usual, soon had children gathering around our heavily armed vehicles and trying to communicate with us. In this particular village I noticed an abscence of black clothing usually worn by all or most Iraqi women. I also saw alot of colorful head scarfs, very western style purses, colourful blouses and some jewelry. The children seemed pretty much as they always are except quite a few boys had bicycles. And the bicycles were all brightly decorated with ribbons, mirrors and colored tape.

The people all came out to see us and most of the younger people waved or smiled at us. The village was near a very large body of water and was therefore rich in plantlife and foilage. It reminded me of many areas of my own part of the world in southern California.

Near the end of our visit to this village we were given information about a possible threat to our patrol and one of our possible routes back to the FOB. Of course we could have just avoided it to save oursleves but the threat to any persons had to be investigated and confirmed or denied. So we set out to find this danger.

As we neared where it was said to be, we passed by a very large Iraqi cemetary. I have never seen an Iraqi cemetary and was very iterested in seeing one up close. We sent out an element to locate the danger and they did. It seems that some persons decided to try and blow up some Americans and had placed explosives along a possible route. We reacted as we were trained to and secured the area to ensure the safety of the local Iraqi populace and sent for the most valuable asset in Iraq, EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal). I don't know what these guys and gals get paid but it's not enough.

I sat back in my gunners hatch and watched as EOD got closer and closer to the threat, that's their job, and kept hoping they would find nothing. I do not look foward to ever seeing another American getting peppered by an explosion or worse. They were on site for as long as it took to find and disable the threat, which they did with some explosives of their own.

But soon after the initial explosion we saw someone from EOD put on an armoured suit and start to clear the area with themselves. It was pretty tense for all of us, I can't imagine what that guy or gal in the suit must have been feeling. There was no new BOOM!! and we eventually head back to the FOB.

We had only been on the road for about ten minutes when some more Iraqi citizens stopped us to warn us of another threat. This one was also identified and disabled. One interesting thing happened while we had stopped to listen to the citizens. I was acting as the turret gunner in our vehicle and was told to "check six" for a group of people to the rear of our posistion. ( The term "check-six" means to make sure the area behind you is safe) As I turned my weapons system I saw about eight women in the distance moving towards a canal that we had stopped nearby. They just stepped into the canal and filled their jugs with water then walked back the five or six hundred meters to their home. When I think of all the things we have in America I just can't help wondering how we take it for granted as we tend too. I often times see the people of Iraq living just as they did a hundred years ago and so many of us just can't have it easy enough.

In all I got a very good feeling about the attitude of the local people and feel that most of them don't want to see any more bloodshed. Unlike the Media, that just seems to thirst for it and the headlines it generates. It seems like whatever good things we accomplish here the press only wants to publish the worst possible things.

Recently some of us soldiers were watching CNN and it's handling of the "Katrina" situation in New Orleans, and can't help but wonder if the press can see anything positive in the reaction to a natural disaster, instead of trying to blame people for what is usually considered an act of God. We see it for ourselves everyday here in the Sunni triangle, the thousands and thousands of good deeds done by American soldiers every day just doesn't sell like blood.

As September begins it seems as though we can see summer ending. The days of blistering heat are slowly coming to an end and the mornings seem rather crisp and cool. The danger of course is never ending and everyone is still at a hundred percent, as far as security is concerned. One often times hears conversation of going home, which a month ago was never really mentioned. It is as if to speak too much of going home might bring on bad luck so it's not spoken of in detail. We all know nothing counts until we are on the good soil of the U.S. of A.

We continue to ready the people of Iraq for the defense of their country and progress is slow at times but on a steady rise. I and others know that violent death is a part of what Iraq has been for fifty years and it is accepted without much ever being said. Just today I was speaking to one of my Iraqi friends, Sadaam, and asked him why he wasn't at the base on Friday. He responded by telling me his brother in law had been murdered for being in the Iraqi Army. He didn't seem overly upset and I offered my condolences and he just shrugged and said "Shukran, insh Allah".

I am always taken by the fact that when we go on some of our neighborhood searchs for illegal arms and contraband that there is never really any challenge to our right to enter the homes of any Iraqi we choose. I must say that most of the time it's the Iraqi soldiers that do the searching and we just watch. That kind of stuff is unthinkable in America. We will search whole villages and always leave as welcome intruders, or so it seems. Here in central Iraq the reception is still warm everywhere we go.

I am puzzled at times by the draw of going on active patrols, they are very dangerous and deadly but it seems that's where I belong. I hated doing them when I was more active but time did go by quickly, it seems that one is the most alive when confronted with bodily harm, it sounds strange but that is the truth. The vast majority of Americans sent here will only experience life outside the wire but a few times, and I suppose that's agood thing, but it is truley something different to relive.